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Been using a rice cooker for some years now, it's already a huge step up from cooking it in a pot. And it seems almost nobody uses rice cookers here (NL). Fun f

Been using a rice cooker for some years now, it's already a huge step up from cooking it in a pot. And it seems almost nobody uses rice cookers here (NL). Fun fact, people from Asian countries are rather unlikely to know how to cook rice in a pan. I'll very likely get one of the IP's, as cooking ribs and other slow cooked meats do take a lot of time now, and pressure cookers are like playing with a bomb.

gambiting 9y ago
I just don't understand the point of a rice cooker, I really really don't. Cooking rice is the simplest thing in the world - throw rice in a pan with water and some salt, turn the gas on, wait 10-15 minutes. Done. Why would I buy a separate device taking precious space in my kitchen for what has to be the easiest cooking task imaginable? When you say "people [..] are rather unlikely to know how to cook rice in a pan" I just don't understand. It's like saying that someone doesn't understand how to make a cup of instant coffee. The only way to fuck it up is to put it on gas and then forget, but that would ruin any dish.
- Isn0gud 9y ago
  It's not just about cooking the rice...
- leoedin 9y ago
  Your recipe only applies to certain types of robust rice. Basmati rice is not simple - if you just boil it for 15 minutes, you'll destroy it. At the very least, good basmati is steamed - you only add enough water to cook the rice (you don't drain it afterwards), then bring it to the boil before simmering it at a very low heat. It's pretty hard to reliably get right - every time I use a new stove or pan or try to cook a quantity I don't often do is a gamble. If you mess up it's either crunchy or squishy.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
    This is so true. I usually only buy the one type of rice, a short grain brown rice from SunRice in Australia, and usually only when it's on special. Anyway, point being: I know I can cook this one particular type of rice to perfection in a saucepan with 1 volume-unit rice to 1.5 volume-units water. Bring it to a rapid boil for one minute, then wrap the whole pot in two dry cotton bath towels (hotbox), leave it for ~45 minutes. Voila! Also works with some short grain white rices, with 1:1 ratio and many fewer minutes in the hotbox. Personally, I can't stand any long grain rice (Basmati, Jasmine, etc).
    - solipsism 9y ago
      People with their crazy rice strategies. I found the secret to perfect rice every single time and it's as easy as can be. The secret: cook it like pasta. Plenty of water so it won't evaporate away, test it now and then (you don't even have to taste it, you can tell by the texture), and when it's ready strain it. No other strategy has been so consistently perfect, not to mention stress-free. No ratios. Any variety. No problems. Side bonus: a lot of that nasty arsenic washes away instead of sticking to the rice and going in your body.
      - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
        Oh, I should probably mention I have a bit of a penchant for hotboxing cooked food in general. So it's more of a crazy good-cook strategy than a specifically crazy rice cooking strategy.
      - gambiting 9y ago
        Yep, that's my strategy and that's why I don't understand the complexity people talk about. I only cook long grain rice though. I throw it in a pan with a lot of water, boil until it's done, strain. Like you said - just like pasta.
      - slantyyz 9y ago
        >> People with their crazy rice strategies. You're making assumptions that your definition of "perfect" is the same as everyone else's. There are cultural differences with respect to the preference of the actual texture and stickiness of the rice. For example, my Chinese parents basically don't like the stickiness or texture of rice made by any other culture. It might be close minded, but it does illustrate that different cultures have different standards for what makes rice "perfect".
  - sjg007 9y ago
    I heard the best way to cook rice is through a coffee filter. It basically gets all the arsenic out.
  - SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
    I mostly cook a medium grain rice, but this works for other methods (though it takes attention): Measure and wash rice until the water runs clear. Add twice as much water (by volume) as you have rice to a saucepan, and a bit of salt. Boil the water. Stir in the rice. Cover with a glass lid (clear lid is important) and reduce to medium/low heat, the water should just barely be boiling. Wait until the steam tapers off and you can't see the water layer anymore. Carefully remove the lid, and start stirring the rice. Continue to stir until the last of the water is absorbed / boils off. This results in fluffy rice that isn't wet and doesn't end up stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  > Why would I buy a separate device taking precious space in my kitchen I have a microwave rice cooker - doubles as a large bowl for eating, mixing, etc. Alton Brown would approve.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- leemailll 9y ago
  Unlike what you stated, it quite needs some practice to get the right formula for cooking rice. There are at least three kind of rice sold in Asian markets, and different kind of rice need different duration, heat, and water to get the best taste. And cooking in pan often leaves fried rice layer at bottom, which could destroy the flavor of the whole pot. It is not simple as you state. Just think about it this way, East Asians might be the people in the world eat most rice in their meals, and they all use rice cooker. There must be a reason for that. Also most East Asian don't add salt when cooking rice, but after cooking white vinegar is added for sushi rice.
- roel_v 9y ago
  "Cooking rice is the simplest thing in the world" Yeah, for us in the west that's what it looks like, also many of us think 'rice is rice is rice'. But there's a huge variety all with different cooking needs, and there is a large difference between well-cooked and just-boil-until-it-looks-done rice. But, as with most single-purpose appliances, rice cookers only make sense when you use it daily so that you can leave it on your counter top. Better rice cookers have start- and stop timers so that you can do long prep methods without having to think about anything. I've never been to a Chinese home that didn't have a rice cooker (huge selection bias in there but still). If it were as useless as you say, a rice cooker wouldn't be a primary appliance in Asian households, the way a coffee machine or kettle is for us in the West (after all, why use those? you can just boil water in a pan).
  - slantyyz 9y ago
    >> I've never been to a Chinese home that didn't have a rice cooker (huge selection bias in there but still). That's a pretty fair statement. I'm of a Chinese background, and the only people I know who don't have rice cookers are people who don't cook rice often enough to merit one. Also, I don't think I know any Chinese people who even bother cooking it the traditional way in a pot. My parents taught me how to do it when I was 10, but the only time I would ever do it that way these days is if I want the burnt crust at the bottom of the pot (sooo good when eaten with soup).
- option_greek 9y ago
  In my country, pressure cookers are advised to be used along with pre-soaking the rice for energy savings (its usually advertised by government).
- sammoth 9y ago
  Well, the comparison of cooking rice that way to making instant coffee is apt
- toomanybeersies 9y ago
  I lived in a house with 6 other people at one point when I was at university. Rice was the cheapest form of carbs you could buy, so rice was our staple food. With the amount of rice we ate, it just wasn't practical to cook rice on the stove. We always had rice in the rice cooker (we didn't keep it warm though), if someone finished the last of the rice, they'd just add more rice and water, and turn the rice cooker on. We'd cook rice 2 or 3 times a day, it probably helped that we ate rice for 3 meals a day. Even when we moved down to 5 people, it was still so much more practical to use a rice cooker. Anyway, my point is that if rice is your staple food, it makes sense to get a rice cooker. It's just that much easier, and saves a space on the stove. Just add rice, salt, and water, and press the start button. It means you can worry about cooking the rest of the meal, or even just go off and do something else and forget about the rice.
- akvadrako 9y ago
  Cooking rice on the stove is not the easiest thing ever. First you need to boil the water, then turn it down, then wait X minutes, then turn the stove off. With a rice cooker you turn it on and forget about it; it always comes out perfect. When you do that every day, it's so very easily worth it.
- tootie 9y ago
  If you live in a household that cooks rice once or twice a day every day, it's easier to have a dedicated device. If it saves you 2-3 minutes each time because you don't have to measure the water or watch the timing, then it's worth it after your 300th pot or so. If you eat rice only occasionally, then it's probably not worth it. I did, at one point, have a multi-purpose rice cooker that had all kinds of setting similar to an instapot. I could put rice, mean, veg and cook the whole thing without attending it. It was nice, but when it broke down I didn't replace it.
teddythetwig 9y ago
Any suggestion as to where to buy one? amazon.de?
- akvadrako 9y ago
  Sure or any of the Chinese shops. The really basic ones work just as well as the expensive ones; they just might not last as long.
  - sushid 9y ago
    I've had basic Aroma ones currently have a nice Korean one. I'd say the quality is vastly different between those. The high quality Japanese or Korean ones will be pressure cooked and cooked in a way that allows it to stay warm in the cooker for days. Not a single grain of rice will be stuck/inedible. If you get the cheap rice cooker, it'll burn, cook unevenly, go bad if left overnight in warm mode, etc. If you eat rice 2-3 times a week, get a Zojirushi or a Cuckoo.
    - akvadrako 9y ago
      I don't think you should leave your rice in a warm cooker overnight because it could develop bacteria.

gambiting 9y ago

I just don't understand the point of a rice cooker, I really really don't. Cooking rice is the simplest thing in the world - throw rice in a pan with water and some salt, turn the gas on, wait 10-15 minutes. Done. Why would I buy a separate device taking precious space in my kitchen for what has to be the easiest cooking task imaginable? When you say "people [..] are rather unlikely to know how to cook rice in a pan" I just don't understand. It's like saying that someone doesn't understand how to make a cup of instant coffee. The only way to fuck it up is to put it on gas and then forget, but that would ruin any dish.

Isn0gud 9y ago
It's not just about cooking the rice...
leoedin 9y ago
Your recipe only applies to certain types of robust rice. Basmati rice is not simple - if you just boil it for 15 minutes, you'll destroy it. At the very least, good basmati is steamed - you only add enough water to cook the rice (you don't drain it afterwards), then bring it to the boil before simmering it at a very low heat. It's pretty hard to reliably get right - every time I use a new stove or pan or try to cook a quantity I don't often do is a gamble. If you mess up it's either crunchy or squishy.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
  This is so true. I usually only buy the one type of rice, a short grain brown rice from SunRice in Australia, and usually only when it's on special. Anyway, point being: I know I can cook this one particular type of rice to perfection in a saucepan with 1 volume-unit rice to 1.5 volume-units water. Bring it to a rapid boil for one minute, then wrap the whole pot in two dry cotton bath towels (hotbox), leave it for ~45 minutes. Voila! Also works with some short grain white rices, with 1:1 ratio and many fewer minutes in the hotbox. Personally, I can't stand any long grain rice (Basmati, Jasmine, etc).
  - solipsism 9y ago
    People with their crazy rice strategies. I found the secret to perfect rice every single time and it's as easy as can be. The secret: cook it like pasta. Plenty of water so it won't evaporate away, test it now and then (you don't even have to taste it, you can tell by the texture), and when it's ready strain it. No other strategy has been so consistently perfect, not to mention stress-free. No ratios. Any variety. No problems. Side bonus: a lot of that nasty arsenic washes away instead of sticking to the rice and going in your body.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
      Oh, I should probably mention I have a bit of a penchant for hotboxing cooked food in general. So it's more of a crazy good-cook strategy than a specifically crazy rice cooking strategy.
    - gambiting 9y ago
      Yep, that's my strategy and that's why I don't understand the complexity people talk about. I only cook long grain rice though. I throw it in a pan with a lot of water, boil until it's done, strain. Like you said - just like pasta.
    - slantyyz 9y ago
      >> People with their crazy rice strategies. You're making assumptions that your definition of "perfect" is the same as everyone else's. There are cultural differences with respect to the preference of the actual texture and stickiness of the rice. For example, my Chinese parents basically don't like the stickiness or texture of rice made by any other culture. It might be close minded, but it does illustrate that different cultures have different standards for what makes rice "perfect".
- sjg007 9y ago
  I heard the best way to cook rice is through a coffee filter. It basically gets all the arsenic out.
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y ago
  I mostly cook a medium grain rice, but this works for other methods (though it takes attention): Measure and wash rice until the water runs clear. Add twice as much water (by volume) as you have rice to a saucepan, and a bit of salt. Boil the water. Stir in the rice. Cover with a glass lid (clear lid is important) and reduce to medium/low heat, the water should just barely be boiling. Wait until the steam tapers off and you can't see the water layer anymore. Carefully remove the lid, and start stirring the rice. Continue to stir until the last of the water is absorbed / boils off. This results in fluffy rice that isn't wet and doesn't end up stuck to the bottom of the pan.
zimpenfish 9y ago
> Why would I buy a separate device taking precious space in my kitchen I have a microwave rice cooker - doubles as a large bowl for eating, mixing, etc. Alton Brown would approve.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
leemailll 9y ago
Unlike what you stated, it quite needs some practice to get the right formula for cooking rice. There are at least three kind of rice sold in Asian markets, and different kind of rice need different duration, heat, and water to get the best taste. And cooking in pan often leaves fried rice layer at bottom, which could destroy the flavor of the whole pot. It is not simple as you state. Just think about it this way, East Asians might be the people in the world eat most rice in their meals, and they all use rice cooker. There must be a reason for that. Also most East Asian don't add salt when cooking rice, but after cooking white vinegar is added for sushi rice.
roel_v 9y ago
"Cooking rice is the simplest thing in the world" Yeah, for us in the west that's what it looks like, also many of us think 'rice is rice is rice'. But there's a huge variety all with different cooking needs, and there is a large difference between well-cooked and just-boil-until-it-looks-done rice. But, as with most single-purpose appliances, rice cookers only make sense when you use it daily so that you can leave it on your counter top. Better rice cookers have start- and stop timers so that you can do long prep methods without having to think about anything. I've never been to a Chinese home that didn't have a rice cooker (huge selection bias in there but still). If it were as useless as you say, a rice cooker wouldn't be a primary appliance in Asian households, the way a coffee machine or kettle is for us in the West (after all, why use those? you can just boil water in a pan).
- slantyyz 9y ago
  >> I've never been to a Chinese home that didn't have a rice cooker (huge selection bias in there but still). That's a pretty fair statement. I'm of a Chinese background, and the only people I know who don't have rice cookers are people who don't cook rice often enough to merit one. Also, I don't think I know any Chinese people who even bother cooking it the traditional way in a pot. My parents taught me how to do it when I was 10, but the only time I would ever do it that way these days is if I want the burnt crust at the bottom of the pot (sooo good when eaten with soup).
option_greek 9y ago
In my country, pressure cookers are advised to be used along with pre-soaking the rice for energy savings (its usually advertised by government).
sammoth 9y ago
Well, the comparison of cooking rice that way to making instant coffee is apt
toomanybeersies 9y ago
I lived in a house with 6 other people at one point when I was at university. Rice was the cheapest form of carbs you could buy, so rice was our staple food. With the amount of rice we ate, it just wasn't practical to cook rice on the stove. We always had rice in the rice cooker (we didn't keep it warm though), if someone finished the last of the rice, they'd just add more rice and water, and turn the rice cooker on. We'd cook rice 2 or 3 times a day, it probably helped that we ate rice for 3 meals a day. Even when we moved down to 5 people, it was still so much more practical to use a rice cooker. Anyway, my point is that if rice is your staple food, it makes sense to get a rice cooker. It's just that much easier, and saves a space on the stove. Just add rice, salt, and water, and press the start button. It means you can worry about cooking the rest of the meal, or even just go off and do something else and forget about the rice.
akvadrako 9y ago
Cooking rice on the stove is not the easiest thing ever. First you need to boil the water, then turn it down, then wait X minutes, then turn the stove off. With a rice cooker you turn it on and forget about it; it always comes out perfect. When you do that every day, it's so very easily worth it.
tootie 9y ago
If you live in a household that cooks rice once or twice a day every day, it's easier to have a dedicated device. If it saves you 2-3 minutes each time because you don't have to measure the water or watch the timing, then it's worth it after your 300th pot or so. If you eat rice only occasionally, then it's probably not worth it. I did, at one point, have a multi-purpose rice cooker that had all kinds of setting similar to an instapot. I could put rice, mean, veg and cook the whole thing without attending it. It was nice, but when it broke down I didn't replace it.

teddythetwig 9y ago

Any suggestion as to where to buy one? amazon.de?

akvadrako 9y ago
Sure or any of the Chinese shops. The really basic ones work just as well as the expensive ones; they just might not last as long.
- sushid 9y ago
  I've had basic Aroma ones currently have a nice Korean one. I'd say the quality is vastly different between those. The high quality Japanese or Korean ones will be pressure cooked and cooked in a way that allows it to stay warm in the cooker for days. Not a single grain of rice will be stuck/inedible. If you get the cheap rice cooker, it'll burn, cook unevenly, go bad if left overnight in warm mode, etc. If you eat rice 2-3 times a week, get a Zojirushi or a Cuckoo.
  - akvadrako 9y ago
    I don't think you should leave your rice in a warm cooker overnight because it could develop bacteria.